Skip to main content

Uretek delivers voided soils treatment for UK’s M3 Smart Motorway

Ground engineering specialist Uretek has been treating voided soils as part of maintenance following completion of the UK’s M3 Smart Motorway project. Work is between junctions 2 and 4a where Uretek has provided a non-disruptive alternative to conventional underpinning to solve foundation subsidence problems. The focus for Uretek is an old 900mm corrugated pipe, 73m long. The old pipe has had a new 700mm pipe inserted inside. However, the old pipe is rusting and rapidly deteriorating.
February 8, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
Uretek focussed on old 900mm corrugated pipe that had a new 700mm pipe inserted inside
Ground engineering specialist Uretek has been treating voided soils as part of maintenance following completion of the UK’s M3 Smart Motorway project.


Work is between junctions 2 and 4a where Uretek has provided a non-disruptive alternative to conventional underpinning to solve foundation subsidence problems.

The focus for Uretek is an old 900mm corrugated pipe, 73m long. The old pipe has had a new 700mm pipe inserted inside. However, the old pipe is rusting and rapidly deteriorating.

In order to protect the structural integrity of the old pipe and prevent localised ground collapses at the side of the motorway, Uretek is treating voided soils with polyurethane resin around and above the laid pipes from the ground level downwards. It is doing this with two rows of injections - one from either side of the installed pipe to ensure full coverage.

Treatment depth varies across the area from 1.35-2.6m below ground level, depending on the depth of the pipe.

The contract on behalf of 1146 Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Services is being undertaken overnight to minimise disruption. Around 102 linear metres of soil will be treated over four weeks. Up to 1,350kg - 74kg/m³ - of the geopolymer is expected to be needed.

“Not only do we stabilise the soils, but we fill the expansive voiding surrounding sub-surface service lines, meaning future surface maintenance won’t be compromised,” explained Richard Holmes, managing director of Uretek. “The recyclable nature of the geopolymer being used is not only safe for the environment, but is safe for removal should access to the void be required.”

Uretek UK is a wholly-owned contracting subsidiary of Uretek Worldwide that operates in over 50 countries. Its geopolymer technology has been used for many infrastructure sectors including airport runways, railways, and for everything from foundation re-levelling and ground stabilisation to simple void filling and water sealing.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Zipping up road lanes
    September 28, 2018
    QMB has a Lindsay Road Zipper on duty near Montreal. World Highways deputy editor David Arminas climbed aboard As vice president of Canadian barrier specialist QMB, based in Laval, Quebec, Marc-Andre Seguin is sanguine about the future for moveable barriers. On the one hand, it looks good. The oft-stated advantage of moveable barriers is that the systems are cheaper to install than adding a lane or two to a highway or bridge. Directional changes to lanes can boost volume on a road without disrupting tra
  • Concrete runway paving in the US
    December 15, 2017
    A new Wirtgen SP 94i slipform paver has helped deliver the successful reconstruction of a runway in the US state of Missouri. With more than 30,000 take-offs and landings a year, Jefferson City Memorial Airport (JEF) is one of the most heavily frequented airports in Missouri. Thousands of visitors travel through it every day on their way to the government and congress offices in the state capital on the Missouri River. At the end of April 2016, work commenced on the reconstruction of a runway approximately
  • Simex machine helps deliver new tunnel lining
    December 1, 2014
    In Italy an MP1000 cutting system from Simex has been used to help resurface the walls of a highway tunnel. The SS51 State Road crosses through the Dolomites in the north-eastern Alpine Region of Italy. The SS51 starts in San Vendemiano in the province of Treviso and ends in Dobbiaco in the province of Bolzano and is a key road because it connects Cadore and the main towns in the area of Cortina d'Ampezzo. This 134.4 km road has expansion work and upgrades to improve safety and boost capacity. One the mo
  • Simex machine helps deliver new tunnel lining
    December 3, 2014
    In Italy an MP1000 cutting system from Simex has been used to help resurface the walls of a highway tunnel. The SS51 State Road crosses through the Dolomites in the north-eastern Alpine Region of Italy. The SS51 starts in San Vendemiano in the province of Treviso and ends in Dobbiaco in the province of Bolzano and is a key road because it connects Cadore and the main towns in the area of Cortina d'Ampezzo. This 134.4 km road has expansion work and upgrades to improve safety and boost capacity.